Reggae Artists

There are a number of different sub-genres within the Reggae genre, meaning there are also a large variety of different artist styles that produce Reggae music.

The most famous Reggae artist is probably Bob Marley, he was platinum selling and was the ambassador for the genre. He had poor Jamaican roots and promoted peace, justice and brotherhood in his Rastafarian religion. Marley was singing professionally at the age of 16, he experimented with the slow beat of Ska music, later making his own 'Rude Boy Music' and 'Rock Steady Style'. Sadly in May 1981 he passed away due to cancer. However his music lives on today, he is still a very popular, established artist. He is seen as the creator of the official Reggae genre, legend in the history of Reggae music. Here's one of Bob Marley's most famous singles- 'Three Little Birds'. He sings about peace, love and justice, in true Rastafarian style! The music video is very 'old school', a lot of black and white, old style televisions sets, a sense of being free, very un-materialistic which you can compare with a vast number of Reggae videos today where they are filmed in aspirational locations and very materialistic. Shows the change over time.

Another established Reggae artist is Sean Paul, he is more recent than Marley, and has a more Dancehall approach to the genre. He's been scoring top singles since 1996. Whilst growing up in Jamaica, Dancehall had always been his first love, although he was a sporting hero and had other career paths he could follow, he stuck with his love for Reggae music and today is a very well known artist who has worked with the likes of Beyonce, Beenie Man, Kelly Rowland etc. He has a far more modern approach to his music, the rhythm of his music is a lot faster to fit with the audience demands, his videos also feature a lot of materialisation; him in aspirational locations with fancy clothes and cars, women dancing seductively around him, predominately male gaze sexualising woman! In his music video for 'We Be Burnin', it shows him in a large desert with his fancy clothes and cars, also attractive women dancing wearing very little clothing!

A newer established artist is Major Lazer- a particular favorite of mine! The two DJs Diplo and Switch, joined together to form the group of Major Lazer, releasing their first album together in 2009. They combine a variety of genres together under the Reggae genre, usually fast beats and mainly Dancehall and Soca styles. They have a very modern and individual approach to Reggae. They still record and get inspiration from the heart of Reggae; Jamaica. In their video for 'Watch Out For This' you can see a lot of sexulising woman, however they have stuck with the original old style videos by incorporating Jamaican streets, with dancers, portraying a sense of community. Even if it is very materialisic with big jewelry and nice clothes, the roots of the genre still show.

Another of Jamaica's famous dancehall artist is Vybz Kartel (Adidja Palmer), much like the other artists his career started early as a teenager, in 1993 he recorded his first single. He also started his own liquor line of - Street Vybz Rum - how very Jamaican! One of his most famous singles 'Summertime' has a very typical Dancehall music video, the aspirational locations; beaches, swimming pools, the sexualisation of women dancing about in bikinis, and much like the others; him being the centre of attention wearing big expensive jewelry!